Why Your Website Needs a Business Blog

Your business blog is a critical part of your marketing strategy. Blogging regularly for your business can help you build your voice and your brand. Your blog puts a personal face on your business, and makes it approachable to your current and prospective clients.

Why Do I Need a Business Blog?

This is a really common question from small business owners. A blog may seem like an unnecessary tool but it’s actually an important marketing asset. The simplest way to look at your business blog is that it is an easy-to-maintain way to spread your brand message to current and prospective clients on a regular basis. Your blog has greater reach than your email list or your website. It’s a consistent marketing tool that can be easily updated.

Your blog helps position you as an expert in your field. You can post content about your industry, how-to’s and other helpful material to show prospective clients that you know your business – and their needs – inside and out. This will help you to build credibility with visitors to your site.

Finally, a business blog can make a huge difference in search engine optimization, which will make it easier for people to find you online.

Your Business Blog and Social Media

Your business blog can go hand in hand with social media to market your business. Many business owners have gotten excited about setting up their Facebook or Twitter pages only to be faced with the challenge of then figuring out what to share on social media. With a business blog, you will have a regular supply of relevant, original information to share with your readers.

While it’s important to market your business with social media, you still need a “home base” for all of your social media and marketing activities. Some businesses have moved away from blogging in favor of other platforms, like Facebook. The drawback with that is that they don’t own their content when it’s posted to Facebook. With a blog, you have control over your content and one space to direct your social media traffic. Whenever you publish a new blog post, you can let your social media followers know and encourage them to visit your site.

What About Blog Content?

To get the best results from your business blog, you’ll need to update it regularly with good content. A common concern for small business owners is trying to figure out what to blog about. However, you actually have a great source of blog content available: your clients. Think of all of the questions that you get asked on a regular basis – your answer to each of those questions is the basis for a blog post!

Also, don’t worry if you’re not a writer. You don’t have to think about content just in terms of text. You can use different media for your content, such as video demonstrations, podcasts, photos, slideshows and screencasts. Keep it interesting, and you’ll keep visitors coming back.

Updating your content regularly is important for your visitors and the search engines as well. Google and other search engines look for fresh content when ranking your page. As long as you’re using the right search engine terms within your content and updates, you’ll be able to attract search engine traffic.

Your blog puts a face on your business. Use your business’s blog to define your brand and position yourself as an expert in your industry. And don’t worry if you’re new – it gets easier with time!